Federal prosecutors investigating September's massive and deliberate traffic jam at the foot of the George Washington Bridge want to see the documents gathered by a state committee also probing the mess, another sign that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie won't be free of the Bridgegate story anytime soon. The two Democratic legislators leading the state committee announced Friday that they would turn over all documents related to the lane closures in Fort Lee, N.J., saying the federal subpoena “reaffirms our progress in uncovering important information about the apparent abuse of government power and threat to public safety.” The legislative investigation appeared to hit a snag of its own two weeks ago when a state judge ruled that two figures in the bridge controversy, including former Christie staffer Bridget Anne Kelly, didn't have to hand over their records.

A political retaliation scandal that erupted around Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday may be about to get worse. In September, according to a report from the Bergen Record , paramedics trying to reach an unconscious 91-year-old woman in Fort Lee, N.J., got stuck in a traffic jam that had apparently been created by Christie's associates as political punishment for the borough's mayor, a Democrat. Multiple lanes were forced to merge into one, gridlocking traffic for days. The woman later died at a hospital of cardiac arrest, according to a Sept.

April 9, 2014 | By Joseph Tanfani, This post has been updated, as indicated below.

Two former aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie don't have to turn over their emails and other documents, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a serious setback to a state legislative committee's effort to answer the questions surrounding September's deliberate traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge. Bridget Anne Kelly, the former deputy chief of staff who seemed to sign off on the bridge plan, and former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien, once one of the governor's closest political advisors, are in the sights of an FBI investigation into the bridge closures -- and thus shielded by the Fifth Amendment from having to turn over potentially incriminating evidence, Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled.

WASHINGTON - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, his star power dimmed in the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal, is shirking the spotlight at a meeting of the National Governors Assn. in Washington this weekend, but his support among fellow Republicans appeared secure. The Republican dodged questions from reporters Saturday about the state Legislature's investigation of whether his administration was behind a traffic tie-up at the key Hudson River crossing. Critics say the traffic snarl was an act of political retribution against a local mayor who had not endorsed Christie.

NEW YORK -- A contrite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized Thursday and said he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the actions of his staff that closed busy access lanes of the George Washington Bridge in September, snarling traffic in a town whose mayor did not support the governor's reelection bid. "I come out here today to apologize to the people of New Jersey,” Christie said, at a Trenton press conference. "I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team.

January 8, 2014 | By Robin Abcarian, This post has been updated, as indicated below.

That sound you're hearing is the air going out of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's 2016 Republican presidential aspirations, thanks to the scandal known as Bridgegate. We've always known that Christie, a former federal prosecutor, has a temper. He can be nasty and combative -- particularly when it comes to entrenched liberal interests like labor unions -- and, frankly, that's what a whole lot of Republicans like about him. (His temper is also beloved by Democrats who believe his explosive tendencies are their best secret weapon against him.)

A water-lily painting by Claude Monet sold for $43.7 million while a key painting by Wassily Kandinsky brought in $23 million at a Christie's auction in New York on Wednesday. The sales were part of a larger auction of Impressionist and modern works. Monet's "Nympheas," which dates from 1905, brought in approximately $43.7 million, according to Christie's. The painting is one of many that the artist created depicting water lilies floating on a pond. The painting was being sold by the Hackley School in upstate New York, which received the work from Ethel Strong Allen, the wife of the late financier Herb Allen.

At a dinner party last weekend, my host served a Simi Cabernet Sauvignon purchased at Trader Joe's. On second thought, maybe he should have held onto that bottle for a few years. (Just joking,) A bottle of the 1935 Simi Cabernet is estimated to fetch $400 to $600 in a Christie's auction which starts today. The international auction house's “ Signature Cellars: the All-American Sale ” is online-only and includes more than 250 lots of classic and cult wines from American producers.

“The Great Gatsby's” leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio, is using his current screen sway for environmental good -- again. Together with Christie's next week, DiCaprio will co-host “the most important environmental charity ever staged,” the auction house's Brett Gorvy said in a statement. The 11th Hour charity auction, to be held in New York Monday evening, will benefit environmental and wildlife conservation efforts supported by the now 15-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

LAS VEGAS - Long before voters begin paying attention to the 2016 presidential contest, the quiet race for the Republican Party's most elite donors was well under way in recent days as potential candidates made a pilgrimage west to court prolific spender Sheldon Adelson and other members of the Republican Jewish Coalition. During speeches Saturday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all addressed the key concerns of Adelson and many group members - the threat of a nuclear Iran, their desire to strengthen U.S. ties with Israel, and what they view as the waning prestige of the U.S. abroad.

TRENTON, N.J. - Gov. Chris Christie said Friday that the chairman of the authority that controls the George Washington Bridge has resigned, and Christie vowed to reform the agency in the wake of the scandal over a politically-motivated traffic jam. Attorney David Samson, a close ally of Christie and a fixture in New Jersey politics for decades, submitted his resignation effective immediately, Christie announced as he met reporters at the State House...

Well, as they say in Jersey, “Chris Christie didn't do nuthin'!” On Thursday, the New Jersey governor's handpicked legal team cleared him of any wrongdoing in "Bridgegate" - the four-day traffic tie-up in Fort Lee, N.J., in September. The governor played no part in orchestrating the traffic nightmare, the report (which cost New Jersey taxpayers about $1 million) said. Instead, it faulted two Christie loyalists who basically, it found, went rogue. PHOTO ESSAY: Chris Christie, President Obama and the 'ignorance is bliss' dodge It also said that one of those rogues, David Wildstein, insisted that he had told Christie about the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge while they were happening.

Lawyers hired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have cleared him of wrongdoing in the massive traffic jam at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, concluding that it was just one more “crazy idea” by one of Christie's loyalists, motivated by a deep and mysterious grudge against a Democratic mayor. The report, immediately dismissed by Democrats as an attempt to extricate Christie from a political jam, had some fresh revelations: It said David Wildstein, who ordered the four-day closure of bridge access roads in Fort Lee, claimed to other aides last year that he told Christie about the traffic problems while they were happening; the governor has insisted he never found out until after they were over.

An internal review by a team of lawyers hired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie concluded that the governor's aides came up with the idea to close off the access lanes to the George Washington Bridge on their own, without the governor or other staffers knowing about it. “We found that Gov. Christie had no knowledge beforehand of this George Washington Bridge realignment and that he played no role whatsoever in the decision or the implementation of...

POMONA, N.J. - His state wrecked and reeling from Superstorm Sandy, Chris Christie made himself the face of New Jersey's comeback effort with a take-charge tour de force that became a cornerstone of an expected run for president. But the made-for-campaign-ads story of resurrection is now riddled with failures: poor performance by contractors, accusations of insider deals and increasing frustration from homeowners still waiting for recovery funds. In the aftermath of the George Washington Bridge scandal, Gov. Christie and top members of his administration also face questions about whether he and his aides used disaster relief funds to reward friends and punish enemies.

SOMEWHERE ON THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE -- It is perhaps fitting that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose role after Hurricane Sandy garnered him much praise, would be inaugurated to his second term during a surprisingly ferocious snowstorm that is expected to dump a foot of snow on some areas. It is also fitting that the snow, which coated highways with a thick and unmanageable layer of icy slush, caused extremely nasty traffic jams in New Jersey: Christie has faced a slew of traffic jokes in the last week, including a duet about traffic jams by his hero Bruce Springsteen and comedian Jimmy Fallon.

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday said he would appoint state Atty. Gen. Jeffrey Chiesa, a fellow Republican, as the state's interim U.S. senator, replacing Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday. Christie said Chiesa would not be a candidate in the special election this fall to serve the remainder of Lautenberg's unexpired term, which runs through January of 2015. Chiesa has long ties to the Republican governor, having served as his chief counsel when Christie became governor in January 2010 and then as attorney general, an appointed position, since January 2012.

The strategy of Tesla Motors to sell its electric Model S sports sedan through company-owned stores took a hit this week when New Jersey required that autos sold in the state have to move through a middleman, namely a dealer. At the urging of auto dealers, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission changed a rule Tuesday to require a franchise license to sell new cars in the state. Tesla has two company owned stores in New Jersey stores -- in Short Hills and Paramus -- that were operating under different licenses.

Some of the Republican Party's most conservative activists will converge on the outskirts of Washington on Thursday for a three-day gathering that will serve as a chance to take the measure of potential contenders in a 2016 presidential contest with no clear front-runner. The annual meeting known as CPAC - the Conservative Political Action Conference - occurs as Republicans are fractured policywise and yet poised to potentially control both houses of Congress if current trends continue through the November election.